Indrajatra Photography Competition 2015

Competition Detail:
Indrajatra Starts: 27th September
Photo Submission : 28th Sep-27th Oct
Voting Starts from : 12th Oct - 6th Nov

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HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOGRAPH
Send us an email with your Photograph along with your name, contact number(at least one). Metadata also needs to be submitted for category A contestants and captions for each photograph has been made compulsory.

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Email Address:

jatranepa@gmail.com

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Entry Category

CATEGORY A

Taken from Digital SLR Cameras
All photographs submitted under this category must be taken by high-tech gadgets (at least a mini DSLR).

CATEGORY B

Taken from Compact Digital Cameras or Mobile Cameras
Photographs submitted for this category can be of any type (mobile/ordinary digi-cam), provided it meets the requirements.

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Terms and Conditions:
Entry is open to all the Nepali people and Foreigneers; provided that the photo must be taken during this year's festival and must reflect cultural values.

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Photos must be taken by the entrants themselves and it must be of this year’s Indrajatra.

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The photo must reflect the aspects of the festival and its cultural importance. Using a good caption for photos is highly recommended and is compulsory.

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Contestant must submit the Meta data along with the photo. (Only for Category A)

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Digitally manipulated Photos will not be accepted.(Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight colour adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable. But the entrant should mention this during the submission and submit the original file as well).

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Pictures with watermarks will not be accepted.

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Each participant can upload only 1 for each category (contestant can choose to replace their existing entry with a new photo and in that case, the old picture may be transferred to other albums of the page).

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The organizer reserves the right to amend competition rules at any time.

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The organisers have all the rights regarding the selection of the winner.

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By entering the competition, the contestant will grant rights to the organizer to use the photographs for promotional use.

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The entrants must send their uploaded photos along with Real Full Name, Active email address Contact number Metadata (required only for professional category)

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For submission, contestant must email their photograph with all the mentioned details.

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All entrants must accept to the terms and conditions of the competition.

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Winners:
There will be 3 winners from this competition:
Winner from the A category, both selected and judged by the judges.
Runner Up from the A category selected and judged by the judges.
Winner with the most likes/votes from the viewers (Category B).

What is "Euta Kitaab Euta Kaapi" and how can you help flourish education in Nepal?

With chaos still mongering in the soils of Nepal after the recent disaster that destroyed the lives of so many and engulfed many historical & cultural heritages, many organizations and individuals are still struggling to help stabilize the lives of people. Fear stuck, many people are still not comfortable sleeping in their houses. While many teachers and students also suffers the same I'd still considered them to be lucky for they have their schools in a working condition. Education in Nepal has always been facing challenges in Nepal with an literacy rate of only 56.6 %¹, the recent earthquake has further added nothing but only obstacle for this developing country where child labor and child trafficking is still a major problem yet to be solved.

With a vision to provide aid for the unfortunate children who are unable to manage to go to school due to poverty and lack of resources, a local NGO from the city of Bhaktapur, My Earth Nepal (estd: 2011), initiated a project by the name  "Euta Kitaab Euta Kaapi" from 14^th of June, 2015. Their mission, through this project is to make educational resources like stationery items, school bags, uniforms etc available to those who cannot afford. They began this project being focused in rural areas where, the only means of transportation is by foot and other NGOs haven't yet paid their visit or attention.

 

Currently, the organization is striving with funds collected from within the board members and a little help from their friends abroad which certainly is not going to sustain them for the life time of this project as they do not will to put a period on their mission by making it to only one place. Their dream is to reach out to all the needy hands in every corner of the nation and pave a way for an educated generation.

Before involving themselves in this project, My Earth Nepal actively worked in various relief program after the Earthquake on the 25th of April, 2015. Sanitation in temporary shelter was their prime focus as they were well aware of the possibilities of disease outbreaks in such conditions. They also teamed up with various other organizations to build semi-permanent shelters, distribute medical and food items, tents etc.

Despite with fewer hands to help, My Earth Nepal is walking strong towards rebuilding Nepal and hopes to gain attraction of passionate youths who are willing to devout their time and efforts to bring forth a positive change in Nepal.
If you are in Nepal, if you are willing to see positive change in Nepal and if you believe that change comes from within you, don't just share this news but be a part of it.
To learn more about this project, you can contact the My Earth Nepal team through their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MyEarthNepal

References:

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1. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/kathmandu/about-this-office/single-view/news/unesco_celebrates_international_literacy_day_in_nepal/#.VbDF8fmqqko

Hey Marshal, Is that an amp in your pocket? No its just an android =D

From nowhere, Marshall leaked plans this morning for a smartphone called London, which it designed with all of the retro style and texture of one of its classic guitar amps. It's a seriously cool look for a smartphone that no one else has really tried before. That's enough to put it on our wish lists, even if the specs inside of it could use a bump. This is a lower-end phone, with a 4.7-inch, 720p display, 2GB of RAM, a 2500 mAh (removable) battery, and a Snapdragon 410 processor. That at least means it has LTE, and the Moto E uses that same processor to power one of the best low-end phones we've seen. Naturally, Marshall's phone is all about music. You can read more about its specs and intentions "here", but if you want a detailed look at its rock and roll stylings, that can all be found down below.
[Originally posted at: HERE]

Who owns the most powerful passport Why is Nepal's passport one of the least desirable in the world?

Australian passports are the ninth most powerful in the world, according to a new online passport index that allows you to sort passports of the world by a 'passport power rank'.

Created by financial advisory firm Arton Capital, the index determines the ranking of a country by calculating how many countries passport holders can visit without an advance visa, or by purchasing visa on arrival.

Those holding Australian passports can visit 138 countries without having to obtain a visa prior to arrival. Czech Republic and Hungarian passport holders are also ranked equal ninth, behind 24 other countries, placing all three countries one spot behind New Zealand passports, ranked eighth most powerful with 139 countries permitting entry without a visa.

USA and UK passports are the most powerful, each possessing a total of 147 countries its citizens can visit without needing a visa.

French, Germany and South Korean citizens tied for second place, with 145 countries.

Passports from places with advanced economies, such as Hong Kong, sitting in the eleventh spot, dominate the list.

Some of the least desirable passports are from Bhutan (40), Myanmar (28), Nepal (38), Afghanistan (38), Iraq (38) and North Korea (44). These countries can be notoriously difficult to get a visa for.

Visa requirements are often an interesting, but overlooked, indicator of national relations, according to The Washington Post.

Countries that are allied usually offer each others' citizens a quick visa on arrival.

Visitors to countries on not-so-friendly terms may have to provide entry and exit information, a letter of invitation, details about where they are staying throughout the trip, as well as paying a hefty fee. Mistakes could be punished by the application process being drawn out, or worse still, rejected.

Recently, Australia was excluded from a list of 45 countries to be offered visa-free travel to Indonesia.

Strained relations over the imminent execution of two convicted Australian drug traffickers were blamed for the exclusion.

Visas were to be waived for several Asian and European countries for reciprocity.

"If we give visa-free travel to Australia, we have to be given the same thing," Tourism Minister Arif Yahya said. "It cannot be that we give it to them first."

Currently, Australians pay $US35 ($A45.76) for entry into Indonesia, which provides them with a 30 day maximum stay. Australian tourists account for 12 per cent of all foreigners visiting Indonesia in 2014, according to the Indonesian statistics bureau.

While the Passport Index does allow you to sort passports by ranking, location and colour, it does not allow you to see which countries specific passports will permit you to enter without a visa.

So, in case you were wondering which country New Zealand passport holders can enter without a visa that Australians can't - it's Brazil.

World's most powerful passports by rank

1. USA, UK (147)

2. France, South Korea, Germany (145)

3. Italy, Sweden (144)

4. Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands (143)

5. Switzerland (142)

6. Spain, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal (141)

7. Canada, Greece, Austria, Malaysia (140)

8. New Zealand (139)

9. Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary (138)

10. Poland, Slovakia (137)

... and the least powerful

Palestinian Territories, Solomon Islands, Myanmar, South Sudan (28)

Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, Ethiopia (38)

To view the full index, click here. 

How a man cleaned up a river while walking to work: A Great inspiration

One Person "CAN" Make A Difference!

Tommy Kleyn of the Netherlands recently cleaned up a river singlehandedly, on his daily walk to work.

“It took me about 30 minutes to fill one garbage bag with trash, but one bag doesn’t make a dent in a place as polluted as this. I vowed to fill one bag of trash each day as I passed this spot,” Kleyn said.

As he picked up trash each day, Kleyn documented his progress by taking pictures and sharing them on a new Facebook page called Project Schone Schie.

Within just six days, Kleyn was able to make significant progress with his clean up effort, and when his neighbors started to notice the difference, they began to chip in as well.

“The idea is to motivate people to fill one garbage bag with litter each year. It only takes 30 minutes, it really makes a difference and you will be amazed about how good you feel afterwards,” he said.

When the story went viral, people from local towns began following in his footsteps and picking areas to clean up on their daily travels. In Kleyn’s area alone, residents have now helped to collect over a ton of trash in just a few short weeks. Now people all over the world are becoming inspired by this story after learning how a little effort can go such a long way.

Can you think of a place that you pass every day that needs to be cleaned up?

Read More: http://www.trueactivist.com/man-cleans-up-trash-from-riverbank-on-his-way-to-work/

Are You Sure That Your Contributions Are Reaching The Victims? A Lesson To Nepal From Haiti

We all have known NEPAL to be a country that is so rich in nature that it has been voted as one of the best places for travel and a must-visit-place before you die. The country is not just rich in nature, it is rich with natural resources and comprises of diverse communities that share various cultures, language and tradition. Despite being diverse in origin and identity, the people here live united as one but since a decade or more, the land has faced many ups and downs. From the emergence of the civil war raged by the maoist, the massacare of the royal family, the dethroning of monarchy and the absence of a stable government and lack of constitution since then.

While the nation already was suffering from its political instability, on April 25th 2015, it was stuck by another disaster that has now dragged the nation and its people in a deep trauma. An earthquake of 7.8M destroyed many homes, swayed many lives away and destroyed large numbers of cultural heritages that were also renowned by UNESCO as world heritage. The loss that the nation suffers is unbearable and have broken many people's heart yet, they are trying their best to gather as one and rebuild the nation.

Apart from all the Nepalese people living abroad, many foreigneers have been generous in helping Nepal in its time of real need, by donating their hard-earned money or by giving away clothes, medicines, blankets or food materials. As a Nepalese, I would like to express my gratitude to all those humble souls for each of their helps does count and mean a lot to a small and suffering nation like Nepal, Thank You. Help has had also been dedicated from many international governments though some countries only mocked to help while keeping their presence in Nepal only for fulfilling their purpose. My sincere thanks to all those rescue and relief officers who served the nation with their heart.

It was quite a shame to see how the Nepalese government reacted to this turmoil, infact, did they even react? For days after the incident, no government representative made a public announcement to acknowledge the fact or to console its people that they are being looked after. The people had long lost faith in the politician but this quake has finally given the people the voice to rebel openly against the fruitless government and vain politicians. It should not be a topic of debate to say that the government of Nepal is highly corrupt but how disgraceful are these "morons in power" to be so treachorous even at such times.

To all those people, both Nepalese and non-Nepalese, who have casted their help to the nation, please do not rest assured for there remains doubts that whether your efforts have reached the needy or has it found warmth in the pockets of filthy politicians and their shareholders. Even if you had made your donations through a reputed NGO, it still doesn't acertain that your contributions are being used to the fullest, for I have lost my hope on such NGOs after the 2012 KONY hoax. Many such organiztions use media to manipulate our minds and we are too busy in our lifes to keep track of how things are running.

There is a lot to learn for Nepal from Haiti, a nation quite similar to Nepal, that also got hit by similar disaster just 5 years ago. Despite they recieved billions in aid, the situation in Haiti has not got any better. To learn more about it please do watch the following video.

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On a foot note, to my fellow countrymen, Please be aware and share awareness. Donot rely or keep expectation from government, NGOs, INGOs or international aid(s), this nation belongs to us and it is our duty and responsibility to re-build it. Do not think through the perception of any party, religion or cast but think as a citizen. Let us take this lesson from Haiti in our hearts and minds and let us promise that we will not let our country be further shatterd and sheared by the filthy hands of the corrupt minds. And always keep in mind, "United, we stand. Divided, we fall", so let us not fall for we need to rise back and we need to rise as high as the Everest.

And to those who have casted your helps or are planning to, please make sure that you are working through a reliable channel and do keep an update to where your hard earned money is being spent and if the needy are really getting the help that you have offered.

Dear Home Minister, We Nepalese can code and we do know English as well!!!

/*
 The following class gives us an overview of the
 development strategy of Nepal where development is
 initiated in a method that is void, yet a return type
 is expected.
*/
public class NEPAL
{
 private  Development<Progress> development = new Development<Progress>();

 //Creating Develeopment to hold lists of Progress
 int progressID;

 /*
 The following method takes 4 parameters of described type
 the for loop is placed so that the value of Resources can be generated until its value is equal to that of politicianAndRelatedObjects
 the if loop runs only when the above for loop runs with 100% success
 if not the else statement will return the development value (initially set as null).
 */
 public void developmentStrategy(Resourses money, ManPower ordinaryNepali,
 Profit politicianAndRelatedObjects, Profit nationalTreasure)
 {
  development = null;
  progressID = development.get(0);
  //any project will not initiate unless politicianAndRelatedObjects sees enough Resource
  if (money.equals(politicianAndRelatedObjects))
  {
   /*
   This loop will execute only when ordinaryNepali are fully asleep
   and will assign all given Resources to the politicianAndRelatedObjects
   setting no physical progress of development
   */
   while(ordinaryNepali.equalsAsleep())
   {
    money.assigTO(politicianAndRelatedObjects);

    progressID++;
    development.add(new Progress(progressID, "Tea Parties organized with huge success"));
    return development;
   }

   /*
    This loop will execute only when ordinaryNepali are half awake
    and will assign some half Resources to the nationalTreasure and remaining half to politicianAndRelatedObjects
    setting hopes of progress of development
   */
   while(ordinaryNepali.equalsHalfAwake())
   {
    money.assigTO(nationalTreasure, politicianAndRelatedObjects);
    development.add(new Progress("The Council Members agrees on a decision"));
    return development;
   }

   /*
    This loop will execute only when ordinaryNepali are half awake
    and will assign some half Resources to the nationalTreasure and remaining half to ordinaryNepali
    setting slight physical progress in development
   */
   while(ordinaryNepali.equalsFullyAwake())
   {
    money.assigTO(nationalTreasure, ordinaryNepali);

    progressID++;
    development.add(new Progress(progressID, "Work initiated until this.ordinaryNepali.equalsAsleep()"));
    return development;
   }
  }
  else
  {
   return development;
  }
 }
}

Four photos from KATHMANDU that will make you think.

When is the best time to install drain pipes?? Right after having completed the road. Well that's how it's been in Nepal.

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Now I don't see any reasons to not to complain about the narrow roads in Kathmandu. But which of it is narrower, the roads or our minds??

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The contracter company didn't even bother to update the dates. "It's not a facebook status anyways, why should we update", they must have felt.

After covering the entire fertile land of the valley, we complain that we are having to depend on our neighbours for all our food neccesities.

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Russia Signs Agreement With Nepal for Repayment Of It's $1.16 million (USD) Loan

Russia has signed an agreement with the government of Nepal for the repayment of a $US1.16 million Soviet-era loan.

It is not clear why Russia is bothering to collect such a small, old debt. But given Russia’s troubles — its currency has collapsed along with its economy, and Russia’s own foreign debts are now crippling it — and the mercurial nature of president Vladimir Putin, it is temping to read the Nepal agreement as a sign of … something. The landlocked nation of Nepal, which became a republic in 2008 after almost half a century of rule by monarchs or a ruling family, remains one of the world’s poorest countries, with a GDP per capita of $US694.10. It suffered from a decade of civil war after Maoist rebels took on the monarchy under King Gyanendra, which only ended last November when a peace deal was finally signed. Its relationship with the Soviet Union began in 1956, three years before the US set up an embassy in the capital Kathmandu. According to US diplomatic cables from the time, by June, 1958, the Nepalese King Mahendra had agreed, in principle, to accept Soviet economic aid. Now the Russian Finance Ministry wants the country to pay back its debt. Yet it’s unclear why it has taken the decision now. Russia is significantly richer than Nepal with per capita income at around $US14,600 in 2013, according to World Bank data. The move could be seen as part of a trend of Russia leaning on its debtors in order to raise funds as the country’s economy suffers in the wake of the collapse in global oil prices and Western sanctions over its role in the ongoing Ukraine crisis. Earlier this month Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine should repay a $US3 billion loan because Russia needs that money to fight the economic crisis that’s currently ravaging the nation, reports Bloomberg’s Anton Doroshev. However, the tiny size of the Nepal loan relative to the Russian economy makes this move look decidedly odd not least as the country still has some $US368 billion in international reserves in its coffers, the majority of which is held in dollars and euros. It should already have enough to take care of its damaged economy — for the time being at least. Perhaps then this loan recall from Nepal is just a shot across the bow for its larger debtors. Russia is simply saying: It may soon be time to pay up. [Originally Posted on :http://www.businessinsider.com.au/russia-calling-in-a-soviet-era-loan-from-nepal-2015-2] [image courtesy: http://static1.cartoonsy.com/preview/82/e9edc34819c911e]